453
THE LAND OF THE YELLOW LAMA
the glorious range which,
in all its splendor, reaches
northward with its tur
rets, castles, and deep
chasms. On beholding it,
no one would dream that
the waters of the Yangtze
have triumphed over the
mass of rock and cut
their way north, only to
be turned south again by
a lower range.
THE YANGTZE ON THREE
SIDES
No person, unless he
has studied the map (see
page 450), would sur
mise that he is almost
surrounded by the
Yangtze.
Here hidden among a
maze of peaks and hem
med in by mighty walls,
this majestic river later
becomes the bearer of
prosaic burdens in its
lower reaches, through
the heart of China.
We entered a grove of
spruce and hemlock, then
descended over an icy
trail to the foamy Pesh
we, which danced over
rocks and boulders, its
1)a n ks bordered with
giants of the forest and
flower - laden rhododen
dron.
A small stone arch
bridge spans this stream
near the scene of a
bloody battle
some
months ago, when 1,200
AN OLD WOMAN OF THE LUSHI TRIBE WHO DARED TO FACE
THE CAMERA
The Liishi inhabit the region between the Yangtze and the Litang
rivers. The author's interpreter found it impossible to converse
with these people, for their language is more than a mere dialect
of the Likiang Nashi. Note the skirt of the woman in the right
background; she is fleeing from the camera.
Tibetan brigands came within 20 miles ot
Likiang. A skirmish took place between
Chinese soldiers and Tibetans.
The
former were nearly annihilated, while
only one Tibetan lost his life. His gar
ments, or what was left of them, were
still hanging on a bush. Farther on we
found an empty coffin in the middle of
the trail, left behind by the Chinese, who
could not recover all their dead after the
skirmish.
As we progressed through forests of
oak, fir, spruce, and hemlock, interspersed
with rhododendron and canebrake, snow
covered the mossy carpet of the sloping
hillsides. High above us the brown al
pine meadows, bordered by black firs,
were crowned by crags and rocky walls
culminating in Mount Dyinaloko.
THE PRIMITIVE LOLO ARE FOREST
DWELLERS
Amid this grandeur we pitched our
tent for the night. The air was bitter
cold and the soldiers sat around a roaring
fire. Shots were fired to let marauders
r